No tolerance for no-go areas

Last updated at 09:37 08 January 2008

Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, warned yesterday that Islamic extremists have created 'no-go areas' around Britain, where those who do not subscribe to strict Muslim ideology are subjected to hostility and intimidation.

It was a brave thing for him to say, even though the existence of ghettoes where radicalism is rife, and primary loyalty is to Islam rather than Britain, is now a fact of life in some parts of the country.

Politicians and church leaders - the Archbishop of Canterbury included - have been muted about the failure of multiculturalism and rise of Islamic militancy, for fear of seeming racist, or uncharitable.

Raised and educated in Pakistan, Dr Nazir-Ali has no such inhibitions.

The growing isolationism he describes is underlined by polls suggesting that up to 40 per cent of Muslims would rather be subject to religious Sharia law than British law.

The idea that we could have a two-tier legal system, where some are governed by one judicial code and set of punishments and some by another, is, of course, completely unworkable.

But elements of Sharia law have already been accommodated in the banking sector, and who would rule out further concessions by politicians so desperate not to offend that they are blind to logic.

Dr Nazir-Ali also highlighted applications by mosques to be allowed to broadcast the Adhan - the Muslim call to prayer - by loudspeaker three times a day. One such application is currently causing controversy in Oxford.

Quite rightly, he believes these applications should be refused. There is clearly no ancient tradition of using loudspeakers in the Muslim world and there is a great danger of resentment within the majority population.

Britain has a proud record of giving sanctuary to refugees and of embracing people from all cultures.

The quid pro quo is that they live by our laws and share our way of life, not create a patchwork of semi-autonomous societies.

Religious tolerance is also part of our liberal tradition and no one is persecuted because of the god they worship.

However, ours is a fundamentally Christian nation and it is for those who accept our hospitality also to accept our values - not to try to undermine them.

THE NUCLEAR SOLUTION

Could it be that a decision is finally to be made on the vital issue of how Britain will generate its electricity over the next quarter of a century?

Ten years of dithering have left us with outdated power stations, crumbling to such an extent that they will soon be unable to meet our energy demands.

Yesterday, Gordon Brown signalled the imminent go-ahead for the construction of more than 20 nuclear stations, a decision which will infuriate environmentalists but is the only sensible answer to our looming energy gap.

Groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have been tremendously successful in raising awareness of the damage being done to the environment by pollution.

But on the future of power, they offer only muddle and fantasy. They oppose all viable options - nuclear, coal, oil and gas - insisting the answer lies in renewables, such as wind and wave power.

This may be true many decades down the line, but for now it is a pipe dream. Mr Brown is right to face down the Greens, and to use all available sources of power in a mixed generation system.

Given the increasing cost and uncertainty of supply of fossil fuels, he would be a fool not to include nuclear power in that mix.